Beneficial Effects of Mulching 



135 



change of seed and without deterioration of the crop. I 

 practiced this for five years successfully, (c) A third 

 method practiced successfully by Colonel Ryals, the 

 largest truck-farmer in the vicinity of Savannah, 

 Georgia, is: Prepare the land thoroughly the last of 

 August, plant in deep furrows, cover four to six inches, 

 and pass a heavy roller over the row. Being a close 

 observer. Colonel Ryals noticed that near the barrels 

 containing the seed potatoes, where the soil of the rows 

 was tramped and compacted by the feet of the planters, 

 the potatoes came better than where the soil was left 

 loose over them. He therefore determined to pack the 

 soil over the seed on the whole crop, {d) The most 

 certain method I have used is as follows: Trench out an 

 area, large enough to bed enough tubers to plant the 

 crop, four inches deep, spread over the bottom of this 

 an inch of rich loam, 

 and place the whole 

 tubers an inch apart 

 on this soil. Cover 

 them with three inches 

 of mellow loam and, 

 overthat, spread chop- 

 ped straw or shredded 

 corn-stalks two inches 

 deep. This is to pre- 

 vent the soil from 

 baking when watered. 

 This bed should be 

 located in a cool spot, 

 north of a large tree, 



Fig. 16. Second-crop Potatoes 



Seed planted same day first crop was 



harvested 



